Make repairs in a timely manner
Customers appreciate it when technicians make an appointment, arrive on time, and protect the work area. They should stay and work until they are finished so the client only has to interrupt his or her schedule one time, and they should clean up after themselves. All of this should happen within a reasonable time frame.
To find out for yourself what your clients think about your customer service, ask for honest feedback. Perhaps you’ve heard family members or colleagues complain about endless pestering phone calls and mail-in surveys laden with dozens of questions in tiny print. All this checking on satisfaction begins to cause dissatisfaction. As one homeowner said to a phone survey, “If I get one more *&!%# call asking me if I’m satisfied ….”
Or maybe you heard about builders who call and ask what they can do for the homeowner, concluding with “By the way, you’ll be getting a survey and the company would appreciate high marks.” And can you believe that story about two service managers who arranged for surveys to be delivered to a post office box so they could check (and if needed change the answers) before sending the surveys to the survey firm to be tallied!
Instead, ask sincerely one time after move-in what your company could do to make the process and the product better. Listen carefully to the answers, take notes, and then let your clients enjoy their beautiful new home.
The upside to all this customer service diligence: The study also finds that truly delighted home buyers (those rating their builders a 10 on a 10-point scale) recommend their builder to nearly twice as many people as the average new-home buyer.
Carol Smith offers customer service assessment, consulting, and training programs for home builders.
